Repent or Perish!

On the news before dinner, a video was shown of a flaming, mangled car which was involved in a tragic accident.  The wreck ended up killing the teenage driver and sending a passenger to hospital in critical condition.   After dinner our family reads a chapter from the Bible and discusses it together.  The words of Jesus which we read were most appropriate and thought provoking.  Luke 13:1-5 reads, "There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? ³ I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

That girl who perished in that accident was no worse than any other teenager.  She was not killed because of bad karma, having sown the seeds of bad deeds throughout her life.  I never met her, but I know she was no worse than I am.  God causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust alike.  Those Galileans who were killed by Pilate, nor those on whom the tower of Siloam collapsed, were worse than other people.  The fact is, we have all done wrong.  The point of Christ's emphasis is, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."  Not too many of our lives will end in a fiery automobile crash.  Not all of us will be crushed under the weight of crumbling masonry or face capital punishment.  But unless we repent, we will likewise perish.  Jesus spoke these words to compel people to face their own mortality.  Every man will die, and if we die in our sins we face eternal death as a result.  Though it may seem a bit harsh, Jesus was loving to speak this way.  As I think of the flames licking that gutted car, I understand Him clearly.  People are not unlucky to die, and others are not lucky to live.  No matter how long we live on earth, each day is a step towards the inevitable end.

In the evangelism efforts of Christians it is a grave error to divorce the stark truth of the Gospel from the love which made it a reality.  Most of us have witnessed a callous, arrogant, unloving presentation of Gospel truth.  This is an outrage.  But the other extreme is to hold forth the Gospel packaged with such fluff and ribbons that when the gift is opened there is nothing of substance within.  We hold back from sharing the Gospel the way Jesus did because we are afraid of offense.  The result is we pander to those who would refuse to trust in Christ no matter how it is presented, and we do not adequately warn others who would actually respond to the message of salvation through faith in Jesus.  Because we are worried about scaring away the fish we stay away from the water.  If we want to catch fish, we must not only be content to lower the nets:  we need to retrieve them as well.

If we will save souls, there are things which we also must bring up:  our sinful condition, mortality, the judgment that awaits all people after our life is over, and the salvation offered us through Jesus Christ.  If John 3:16 is worthy to commit to memory, so is Luke 13:5.  Unless we repent, we will all likewise perish.  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!